Survival Instinct
by egretudo
Summary: When Davros broke down the barriers between alternate universes, Rose wasn't the only person that slipped through the cracks. Spoilers through JE.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Deep underneath London there is a chamber.

This chamber has walls of stone, with no clear way in or out.

In the center, there is a table.

On the table, there is a box. A box he built himself.

_...it's good, isn't it?..._

In the box, there is a ring.

_...screaming at the dark..._

In the ring, there is a small worm.

_...five hearts could be considered an improvement..._

And in the worm, lives the Master.

_...I love it when you say my name..._

In this body, deep in stasis, what he experiences cannot even be considered a half-life. It is a muted existence, consciousness dimmed beyond all recognition, thoughts skating like frozen echoes across ice.

_...duh duh duh dum. duh duh duh dum. duh duh duh..._

But he exists. Just barely.

_...the drumming..._

Waiting.

_...the call..._

Every hour, the box spools up with a slight mechanical whir. The device signals a frequency and waits for a response. Waiting.

_...the drumming..._

It is silent. The light on top of the device glows red. Waiting.

_...the call..._

And in a time when the city above is imperiled, the signal bounces back.

_...to war..._

The light shifts green.

_...I win._

And with a ear-popping 'click', the box vanishes.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One – The Phone Call**

Toshiko Sato lay sleeping sprawled across her keyboard, hand still grasping a now-cool mug of coffee, when a loud beeping alert startled her back into consciousness.

Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she scanned the screen quickly. A brief analysis of the data left her worried. With practiced efficiency, she plucked the keystrokes that dialed the phone and donned her headset.

_...ring-ring...click..._

"Alex here," spoke a clipped voice.

"Alex, it's Tosh. We've got an incoming, and it's near your location."

"Is it Rose? Is she back?" he said hopefully.

"I don't think so. My log says Riley bounced her about twenty minutes ago. She wouldn't have recharged yet fully. Besides, the spectrum signature on this jump is different than our cannon. I'm not sure what to make of it."

"Fine," said Alex. It clearly wasn't. "Can you determine point of origin?"

"Yeah." Tosh's tone was cautious. "It's definitely from the same universe Rose is in currently."

She could hear him swearing under his breath. "You think whatever she's up against back there is starting to make its way here?"

Tosh sighed. "It's possible. The walls are down. In theory, anyone with the technology could push their way through."

"Great," Alex muttered.

"I'm sending you the coordinates," said Tosh. "Can you swing by? Do some recon?"

"No problem. This whole observatory thing is a bust anyway. No matter how far you zoom in on the sky, it's still dark. Getting darker all the time."

"Thanks, Alex. Standard recon protocols apply, okay? Observation only, and don't engage until you have approval?"

He smiled. "Of course, Tosh. You doing alright?"

"Bit tired. It's been a long two weeks."

"What's the clock say?"

"Fourteen hours left. Unless Rose can find the Doctor and get us out of this mess, when the sun goes down tomorrow it's probably for good."

"Right," said Alex, grasping for words. What to say at a time like this? "She'll do it, Tosh," he heard himself urging.

"I hope you're right. Coordinates are away. Call when you have something." Tosh hung up.

Alex watched his phone as a read-out came up with the GPS position of the unidentified readings. Bidding farewell to the astronomers he'd been working with, he jogged down to his car.

It was 4am and it was dark. Extremely dark. Living in London, he had never thought twice about the stars. With all of the light pollution and zeppelins, he could barely see them most of the time anyway. But on this crystal clear night, atop this mountain, the sky loomed black and large. It made him shudder.

Driving down from the peak, the road curved around and gave him a vantage point a few turns below him. He could immediately see his destination. There was a crater carved into the street not two hundred meters down the mountain. If he hadn't have known better, the glowing depression in the road and the shower of embers floating around it would have made him think a small meteor had touched down. But no, whatever arrived here had blinked in from another dimension.

Still a safe distance away, he pulled his car over and got out his binoculars. He observed the crater and the surrounding area for a good twenty minutes before determining there was no motion. Time to get a bit closer.

As he stepped towards the crater, he could feel intense heat rising from it. He peered over the edge into the small hole. After a moment, he dialed his phone.

_...ring-ring...ring-ring...ring-ring...click..._

"Hey Alex. What've you got?" answered Tosh.

"It's a box," he announced.

"Blue? Police-shaped?"

"No. Brown. Wooden, maybe. It's just a small wooden box. Just lying there in the crater."

...silence...

"Tosh, are you there?"

"Yes," Tosh asserted. "I'm here. I'm just trying to work through who would bother sending a small box across dimensions. The power involved alone..."

"Could it be something one of the team sent back?"

"I...I don't know. I'd ask, but we've lost contact with them for the time being," Tosh admitted reluctantly.

"You've lost contact with Rose? Mickey too?"

"Yes."

There was a beat as Alex digested the implications of that. The dimension cannon had been their last hope. They'd thrown the entire resources of Torchwood into it. If Rose had failed, it was only a matter of time.

"Well, what do you want me to do?" Alex asked quietly.

"Bring it in and we'll do a more comprehensive scan on it at HQ."

He thought for a moment. "I think I'm just going to open it," he said flatly.

"Great idea," she replied with bitter sarcasm. "I know somebody who had a similar notion. Went by the name of Pandora. Didn't work out so well for her."

"Toshiko, think this through," he pleaded. "We're on the brink of annihilation. We've lost all contact with Rose and Mickey. This box is from the alternate Earth. Whatever is in there could save us."

"Or destroy us," Tosh countered. "Did you ever consider that maybe morons like yourself opening boxes is what's wiping out the stars?"

Alex paused. "Is that possible?"

"Who knows? Probably not," she sighed. "The stars aren't combusting, they're ceasing to exist. I don't know how a box could do that."

He was determined. "Tosh, I'm opening it."

"...Okay," she yielded, "but stay on the line with me while you do it."

"Hold on a sec, I'm going to retrieve the box."

The heat wafting up from the crater was making him sweat, but when he reached down to grab the box, he found it cool to the touch. _Not wood, then._

"Tosh, are you there? I've got it."

"What's inside?"

"Opening it now..."

Gently, he eased the latch back and opened the box. He had been holding his breath, his legs and arms tensed for action. But peering inside, he relaxed.

"It's just...it's a ring."

"A ring?" echoed Tosh.

"Yeah, a ring. Like you wear on your finger. It looks pretty normal. It has a symbol on it. A series of circles growing and shrinking."

"What are we supposed to do with a ring? How is that going to help?" she said, exasperated.

"Maybe it's from the Guardians of the Universe."

"Uh...who?"

"C'mon Tosh! The Guardians? From the planet Oa? The Green Lantern Corps? They were an intergalactic peace keeping force that used these super-powerful rings to protect the Earth," said Alex excitedly.

"Are you going on about a bloody comic book?" replied Tosh. She could barely keep the frustration out of her voice.

"Well, yeah. But maybe this is inspired by that. Maybe this is the solution to our problems. I'm going to put it on."

"Alex, stop it. This has gone far enough," said Tosh sharply. "Bring it in tomorrow and we'll scan it."

"There's no time. I'm putting it on."

"Alex, don't! Listen to me. We don't know..."

Alex ignored Tosh and grabbed the ring. With a gesture of finality he slid it onto his finger. He waited.

"Alex! Are you there?! Alex!"

"I'm here, Tosh. I put it on. Nothing. No rush of energy, no super powers. World didn't end and stars are still out. Nothing happened."

"Thank God for that," said Tosh angrily. "You could have been killed, you idiot. Bring it in tomorrow for the scan."

Tosh hung up on him. _I deserved that, _he thought_._ He slid the ring off his finger and peered at it closely before slipping it into his pocket. Another lead, another alien dud. He hoped Rose was doing better than he was.

He got back in his car and drove sleepily to his hotel. _One hour,_ he told himself. _I'll sleep one hour, and then back to HQ. _Exhausted, his legs somehow managed to propel him up the stairs and into his room. Digging deeply into his pocket, he retrieved the ring and laid it and the box on the bedside table. Without bothering to strip his clothes, he fell numbly into bed.

In the dark and quiet, something stirred.

A panel slid back noiselessly on the ring. The small red worm inside raised its body to the wind to sort its new surroundings.

Its infrared sensor organs detected an obvious target. Using its sticky secretions, it started the long journey.

Up the wall. Across the bed. Closer and closer.

It slimed its way up to its target. Having arrived, the worm raised the front of its body into the air once more -- as if in salutation.

And then it dived.

It plunged into the darkness of Alex's ear canal. And when it hit the bottom, it started to dig.

Moments later, Alex gagged and his body spasmed violently.

The room resumed quiet.

Alex's eyes snapped open.

And he gasped.


	3. Chapter 2: Home at Last

By the time she turned around, he was already leaving.

Squinting into the bright bay, she could make out the nearly-transparent shape of the TARDIS as it flickered for the last time.

Just like that.

Her brain felt stuck. Paralyzed. This was all too much to process. The double. The kiss. The departure. The deception.

Except, there wasn't deception this time, was there? He was completely up front with her. He explained his intentions thoroughly. And had given her a choice. Sort of.

Still staring straight ahead, she felt the duplicate Doctor next to her. Gently, he took her hand.

They looked at each other, unsure what to do next.

He spoke first. "I'm sorry, Rose. So sorry."

She dropped his hand and stared at the vacant space where the TARDIS stood. The waves had already washed its imprint away.

"He didn't even say goodbye."

"He had to go," the Doctor said.

"I know. Dimensional retro-whatsit. The gates are closing."

"Not just that. Donna's running on borrowed time."

This seemed to shake Rose into action. Her head whipped around. "What do you mean?" she said with concern.

"Donna's brain is still human. Was never meant to pack that much information into. Sooner or later, it will fail."

"What will he do?"

"I...I don't know," he evaded. "There are only a few options." His mouth was set grimly. She opted not to push further.

"And you?" she said reaching up to mindlessly brush a stray hair from his forehead.

"What about me?"

"You're part-human. Will that happen to you as well?"

"Ah. No. I'm still mostly Time Lord. Thicker synaptic pathways. Should be just fine," he said with false cheer, tapping his head.

His big brown eyes watched her with liquid intensity as she chewed at her bottom lip, wheels spinning. Whatever happened next, it was her move to make.

Suddenly her head snapped up. "I can't do this right now. I'm exhausted," she stated. "It's been ages since I've gotten more than an hour of sleep."

"Right," he replied, visibly relieved that he could take action on something. "Shall we then?"

He scanned the beach to figure out where Jackie had gotten to, but saw no one. "Looks like Jackie has quite a lead on us. We should get going," he said.

There was no response. He spun in Rose's direction and saw her speaking quietly to someone on on a small mobile device. She reached out and wiggled her fingers, with a tentative smile on her face. He took her hand.

"Punch it, Riley," she said, and the world went bright. Brighter than he could stand. He had to shut his human eyes tightly.

When he reopened them, for a moment all he could see was a sea of shimmering afterimages, blotting his vision like thick television static. But his ears were working fine. And he heard...applause? Cheering? Had a very large cruise ship just parked itself on the beach?

As he blinked away the blur, he realized he was no longer on the beach, but in a very modern looking building decorated with concrete, brushed aluminum and composite materials. Well, modern to the 21st century anyway.

Rose no longer stood by his side, but instead was the center of a great crowd of people -- many applauding, some crying, and some who had clearly had too much to drink. Papers were scattered everywhere, and in the front of the room was an enormous red, blinking clock that was stopped at 00:00:05:32.

Somebody messily popped champagne, and a wet plastic cup was thrust into his hand. He sniffed at it gingerly. The crowd began shouting "Speech! Speeeeech!" towards Rose. She smiled broadly and with the aid of the outstretched arms of staffers, she ascended atop one of the desks. As she turned to address her admirers, he noticed for the first time how thin she looked.

"Are the stars back, then?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye. The crowd cheered in response.

"Are we sure? Has Eric counted them all yet?" The crowd chuckled and several people patted an embarrassed-looking, geeky guy on the back.

A shadow came over her face. "What about the Sirius and Cygnus outposts?" she asked worriedly.

The overhead speakers crackled in response, and a muffled voice came over the loudspeaker. "We're all accounted for, Ms. Tyler."

The crowd erupted again, and Rose grinned in relief. The calls for a speech were reaching a fever pitch. A moment passed and she motioned for quiet. Taking a breath, she began to speak with calm authority.

"No speeches now. No stories. No more drinking and no more cheers. Go home. Right now. This instant. Go home to your friends and your families. Go be with the people that you love. Hug them. Be with them for the rest of this week. Longer if you need. Make memories. Torchwood will still be here on Monday. You are all dismissed."

With a final cheer, the crowd began to disperse. Rose hopped down, and looking across the room locked eyes with the Doctor. She looked surprised for a moment, as if she had been so lost in her element that she had forgotten he was there. And he might as well not have been. Certainly few people in the crowd had paid him any attention.

As she approached, he considered the sheer number of things he wanted to talk about. The build-up of missing conversation over the years had become staggering. He wanted to know what things had been like for her. What she'd been through. Why she seemed sad. He wanted to tell her how proud he was. How much she'd grown. How beautiful she was. How sorry he was. How he'd physically ached for her when she was gone. How new that had been to him.

"So. You have a working teleport, then?" he said matter-of-factly. Shop talk was so safe.

She smirked a bit. "You don't think we'd be launching dimension cannons without first having mastered teleports, do you?"

He returned her thin smile and decided to save the safety lecture for another time. "And Cygnus and Sirius?"

"Our stellar bases."

He nodded. "Using the power from the binary star systems to extend the range of the teleport, hm? Very clever. But not going to get you further than 15 light years or so."

"Not all at once anyway," said a soft, feminine voice from behind him. "But we plan to link them serially. Welcome back, Rose," she said warmly.

"Tosh!" exclaimed Rose as she embraced the woman's petite form.

"Doctor," Rose pronounced with enthusiasm, "this is Toshiko Sato, our resident tech genius."

The Doctor instantly recognized the slim woman. But given the circumstances (_parallel universe and all_) he checked his desire to say something and just put out his hand. "Pleased to meet you Miss Sato."

Tosh looked unsure, first staring at the Doctor's hand, then looking at Rose with a bewildered expression.

"It's alright, Tosh," Rose breathed. "He's here to stay."

Tosh looked visibly relieved at Rose's words and grabbed the Doctor's hand enthusiastically with both of her own, pumping vigorously. "I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to be able to meet you, Doctor. I'm sorry about earlier. It's not easy... Things sometimes have been so complicated, even on us lot that are trained to handle these situations. You're not the first one she's brought back, you know. Sometimes it's been easier on everyone concerned to just pretend..."

"Tosh." Rose interrupted with a tone that was soft, but unmistakably full of steel and warning. The Doctor added another question to the enormous mental litany he was compiling. Tosh backed up immediately, stammering.

"Right. I'll leave you two to it then. But before I go, Rose, you should know that Alex was late for his last check-in."

The Doctor did not miss the reaction on Rose's face. She swallowed hard and froze her eyes, obviously trying not to give up too much. "How late?" she asked Tosh with too much casualness.

"About nine hours," replied Tosh. "That's not like him. And I thought you might want to be told." Her eyes darted between the Doctor and Rose's faces.

"Do you have the GPS on his mobile?"

"Of course. But he's not answering."

"Send the on-call squad out to pick him up. I'm sure he just overslept, but let's be sure..."

Tosh gave a small, two-fingered salute and smiled. "Sure thing, boss. Great to meet you, Doctor."

"A pleasure, Toshiko Sato," replied the Doctor, suddenly finding his tongue again. Tosh's heels clicked efficiently out of the room.

They were alone at last.

And it was quiet. Too quiet.

He was looking at her.

She was slouched against a wall. She wasn't looking back.

"It's just..." "So I..." they intoned simultaneously, stopping just as suddenly.

Rose laughed at their awkward moment, and the Doctor watched entranced as color came back into her face.

The color faded quickly, however, and her next words sounded defeated. "I don't know what comes next. I've been calling the shots for weeks. And now I'm a mess. And I don't know what comes next."

"Well, Rose Tyler," he said scratching his neck, "Lots of things come next. Plenty of things. Happy things, and perhaps some dreadful things. Things you'll make happen, things that will happen to you, and things you hardly be able to believe."

He stepped a bit closer to her, hands stuffed in pockets. "But the thing you're interested in is what comes first. The first of the next. And as it turns out, you're in luck."

"Why's that?" she said with a hint of a twinkle in her eye.

"Because I know what the first of the next is. I know what we do first. Next."

"And what's that?"

"What we always do next. We get chips."

He was rewarded with an enormous trademark ear-to-ear grin. "That," she said, "is the best plan I've heard in ages. C'mon. I know a place."

Leaving Torchwood HQ, they walked the London streets. And as they walked, somehow found a conversation balanced in light teasing and a very familiar playfulness.

There were moments - several moments - where he started to reach for Rose's hand, but stopped himself. Something told him that right now, more than anything else, she needed space. And time. And if anybody could give her time and space, he could. Even if now it was only the metaphorical kinds.

========================================================================

Dark.

There had been so much dark in the form where he waited out the years. The blind dark that came of being sightless. Eyeless.

But now he felt the weight and power of a larger body. The angry thumping of a panicked heart muscle. His mouth was wet with saliva and his tongue was thick.

But still it was dark.

Like a victim of a car crash, he carefully tested his limbs. Each seemed to obey his whims, some with more protest than others. The resulting shifting led him to sight a sliver of light in a thin strip near the floor.

Shaking, he crawled towards it. Reaching an obstruction, his hands clawed to find a way through. When his digits found the doorknob, they slipped right off. Slick. Slick with what? Blood? Bile? Sweat? He brought his fingers to his nose. Yes. All of those.

Wiping his fingers on his shirt, he tried again. This time the door gave way.

The Master breathed in the dim light of a misty morning.


	4. Chapter 3: Evil Awakes

**Chapter Three: Evil Awakes**

It did not take the Master long to figure out what was what. He didn't graduate top of his class at the Academy by chance, after all.

_Every song a calculation, every dance a machination_... The old academy song rippled through his head. Backed by the beating of the drums, a bit dimmer than usual. He'd learned long ago that new forms suppressed the thump. For a while.

On the bureau lay a sidearm, and a mobile device with a fairly high level of encryption. The identification in his possession was even more revealing. He couldn't believe his luck. He had possessed a Torchwood agent. Considering the century, he probably couldn't have a better position on this world from which to start anew.

His attention was diverted by his mobile buzzing on the table again. It had been making that annoying racket all morning. He efficiently silenced it by hurling it powerfully against the wall of the room. The pieces made satisfying crunching sounds under his feet as he coiled into the bathroom.

Boiling shower jets quickly dissolved any physical evidence from the previous night's adventures. Stepping out and not bothering with a towel, he spent some time inspecting his new vessel in the steamy mirror.

_Not bad. Relatively strong. Built in the chest. _A bit beefcake for his tastes, but he thought it would do. After spending the last few years barely conscious in the condensed body of a Snickworm, he wasn't going to be choosy.

_Besides, _he thought, _I have an honest face._ He smiled at himself in the mirror, slowly leaning forward until his nose smudged the fogging glass. _I can't wait to see what I can do with an honest face._

He closed his eyes and let his consciousness wander the meaty expanse between his ears. The brain was going to be...a bit of a problem. Underdeveloped neural networks to say the least. _Curse these simian brains. _This paltry human body wouldn't be sufficient to hold a Time Lord consciousness for long. With a bit of self-imposed brain surgery, he would be able to thicken the neural pathways sufficiently to last -- maybe a few months at best. But then he would need something more..._permanent_.

He opened his eyes into the mirror, did not break eye contact with his own reflection, and gave himself a devilish smile. Brow furrowed, he concentrated, sweating, pouring his life force into his eyes.

With a great cracking sound, the mirror cleft, ripping a splintered echo through the room.

He grinned. _I've still got it_, he thought rapturously.

Swiftly dressing, he grabbed his keys, his weapon, and picked up the ring that had so long been his home. Cradling it in his palm, he glanced at it a moment. _Ah, Lucy. Loyal to the very end. Amazing what breaking down a mind will do._

Following his instructions precisely, she had shot him before the Doctor could win, triggering the download of his consciousness into the specially sourced Snickworm hidden in his ring. Snickworms were small, but immortal. They required no food nor air. In that form, he could wait out eternity. She had recovered it and placed it in the box, which was waiting for the right moment.

He knew there was no way to face the Doctor again so soon without detection. So he waited. Waited until the walls were down, and fled to the nearest parallel universe. Where he could build his strength and soon face the Doctor again.

The battle had been lost, but the war was far from over.

Hastily stuffing the ring into his jeans pocket, he set out, located his vehicle and piloted himself to Torchwood HQ. Entering the complex was trivial with his ID and he couldn't help snickering to himself as he did so. It was late, and the office seemed to be practically abandoned. He found a cozy corner office, spent a moment admiring the view, and then settled down at the terminal.

He spent hours hacking away at the Torchwood system. Alex's security clearance was far too low for any of the real juicy stuff.

He was vaguely surprised at the level of security around some of the more private information. There were a few times he had to be cautious not to trigger secret alarms that betrayed his access. The way the system was crafted went far beyond the technology of the age. But despite their attempts, it was still child's play for him to breach their primitive defenses.

_First things first. _Task number one was to determine if he had any enemies here. The chances were slim, but if somebody were made aware of his existence, his cover might be blown before he had a chance to execute his plan. A cursory database search revealed nothing too concerning. A few small time fugitives. A couple of deadbeat refugees. Nothing that would pose a threat.

Next, he poured through the historical archives. As he expected, the Doctor did not exist in this universe. Oh, they knew about him certainly. A universe with a Torchwood was a universe touched by the Doctor, no matter what time stream you fished in. They knew _of _the Doctor here. But there was no record of his activities. It was safe to say this was not the Doctor's active universe. As per plan.

Generally, the rest of the archive was pretty quiet. Most of the record was consumed with the eradication of Cybermen. He scoffed at that. Cybermen were such a silly, simple enemy to beat.

He moved to personnel files. He consumed them rapidly, familiarizing himself first with the head of Torchwood and the leaders of the major powers. Next he went slowly, methodically through the file of the body he had taken. In theory, he could have ripped this information from the skull of his own flesh, but he opted for a lighter touch given the fixed lifespan of his meat. Alex Bromson. Mother Sarah, Father Jim. Military background. With Torchwood four years. Performance reviews, psychological profile, he consumed it all.

At the bottom of the file, in the electronic equivalent of small print, there was a hyperlinked note. "Romantic involvement with Rose Tyler," read the Master out loud. "Rose Tyler," he repeated again. "Where do I know that name?" He clicked the link which took him to a new personnel file -- that of Rose Tyler.

He was immediately stymied. The layers of encryption on her file were higher than the rest of the system combined. He spent a few moments coding a new cypher and in an instant, he was through. He read.

No. The Doctor was not here. But his companion was.

Rose Tyler: the girl that had been so firmly protected in the Doctor's mind when he'd been leisurely raping it. She was the girl that had held the vortex and lived to tell about it. And how did that story end? Of course! She'd been rewarded by getting sealed off in another universe.

Of all of the figures in the Doctor's life, this one burned brighter in his mind than any. What luck! He rubbed his palms together slowly, feeling the calluses tug against each other. Of all the universes he could have landed in, to have ended up in the precise one where she was trapped was a wondrous thing indeed. And she worked for Torchwood as well. Was it karma? Meddling by the fates? Luck? Destiny?

Whatever the cause, he could not wait to meet Miss Tyler.

He quickly crafted a electronic message premised on the current context recorded in his file. "Rose, I'm back. Lost my mobile. Need to talk, can we meet in the morning?" and sent it to her.

Five minutes later, the reply came back: "Glad to hear it. My office. 9am."

He felt the wicked urge to laugh ripple through his gut muscles. This was so uncommonly delightful. But he resisted. It was time to start playing his role. He stilled his budding laughter and plastered a vapid grin across his face instead.

_I look forward to our meeting, Miss Tyler._


End file.
